March 29 (SeeNews) - The 25-share benchmark CROBEX index of the Zagreb Stock Exchange fell sharply in morning trade on Wednesday, pulled down by trade in members of troubled Croatian concern Agrokor.
CROBEX stood at 1,996.56 points by 11:47 CET, down 3.88% from Tuesday's close, ZSE data shows.
At the same time, CROBEX10 fell 3.42% to 1,147.96 points. It closed 0.81% weaker a day earlier.
Agrokor member were among the most traded companies in morning trade.
Water bottling company Jamnica [ZSE:JMNC-R-A] generated a turnover of 4.1 million kuna ($594,700/551,100 euro). Its shares shed 17% of their price to 100,000.00 kuna.
Another Agrokor concern member, ice cream and frozen food producer Ledo [ZSE:LEDO-R-A], followed with a turnover of 3.9 million kuna, as its share price plummeted 13.42% to 6,000.00.
Local media are speculating that Agrokor's financial troubles have hit the Zagreb Stock Exchange as panic grips investors.
Agrokor's financial issues became apparent earlier this year when Moody's downgraded it's corporate family rating (CFR) to B3 from B2. The company then pulled out of a syndicated loan deal it had struck with several international lenders, which sent the price of its bonds on international markets into a downward spiral.
Since then, there has been talk of Russian banks, including Sberbank, acquiring a stake in the company and launching an overhaul. Agrokor has neither denied nor confirmed the reports, but it has announced it is working on a new business model to save the company.
(1 euro= 7.43896 kuna)